December, 2018

"You don't seriously believe that, do you?" Emma asked as the final words of our story left my mouth.

"Believe what?" I said back, a little too lost in the past to understand which part she was referring to.

"That you are destined to ruin everything?"

I responded to her with a slight shrug. "When has anything gone right for me? First bonded partner died. Second bonded partner left me. One long-term girlfriend I pushed away once an invitation formed. Only true friend other than Olivia I've ever had died because he got messed up in my messy love life..." I had my eyes turned down the whole time, too fascinated by my hands instead of reading her expression.

"No," Emma then said. "It isn't your fault, Lukas. You have every right to fall in love with someone. If anyone is to blame here, it's—"

Head whipping up, I immediately snapped, "Don't you dare blame her!"

She flinched away for a moment, anger marring her face. But, slowly, her brows turned down and her expression softened. "I wasn't going to say Olivia. It's not your fault, her fault, or Ben's fault. I see that now. You were all just victims in this."

"Then who are you refer—"

"Rüdiger, of course. From the moment you were born, you were just a chess piece in his game for power. And by default, sure anyone you associated with was bound to get caught up."

Looking away from her, not ready to let myself feel free from the guilt, I mumbled back, "But I knew that... I knew anyone who got close to me would get caught in this web of woe."

"That doesn't make it your fault. What were you supposed to do? Hide from everyone forever?"

"Yes."

"Lukas... I don't think you'd have been the good person you are now if you had pushed everyone away. I don't think you'd be the guy who befriended a boy because the one fatherly figure you had asked you to, even though the boy in question was annoying at best to you. I don't think you'd be the silly person who somehow pushed that boy unknowingly together with your girl because you wanted him to be happy... I don't think you'd be someone who let that girl go once you knew what you had done because it was the first time you saw that boy happy and she was also happy. And I don't think you'd have let her go to break her bond with you just because you would have preferred she'd run than let her ever know the role she played in her boyfriend's death... even if it still wasn't her fault either."

Shrugging, I said, "But if I put the blame on my uncle... Who do I blame for the things I feel now? My uncle is gone. There's no solution to this pain... I just have to... live with it."

"Well... yeah. That's how heartbreaks work. The bond is gone. Eventually whatever you're dealing with that is lingering—which my guess is the remnants of the beautiful friendship you also had with her—will eventually fade away. Then you will just look back at your relationship with Olivia as a fond memory. The person who pulled you out of the depths when you really needed someone."

The corners of my lips tugged up as I finally glanced into her russet gaze. "Just like I'll remember you as that person who listened to my bottled up story when I really needed an ear?"

She returned my warm smile before reaching over to grab my hand in hers. "Exactly. But listen to my words when I say you didn't ruin what you two had. You two just weren't able to survive the death of someone you both dearly loved. Loss is a horrible thing to cope with. And who knows, maybe she will come back one day. Maybe she will at least get in touch to let you know how she is—"

"She's not okay," I then said.

"Exactly she... what? How do you know? Have you made contact sin—"

"You know how I told you Erica called when I went to fetch us breakfast?"

"Yeah?"

"Well... she found out where Olivia is finally."

"Oh... How?"

I repeated what Erica told me... about the graduation ball photos. About the looks of anger on Olivia's face...

"But she was with her old friend Marli and out?"

I nodded.

"Well it's something. She's got support: her mother and a friend. She's not locking herself up in a room... or drinking herself silly in a pub." She gave me a cocked eyebrow at that comment. "She's alive. And maybe it was a bad day... maybe that was a good day. But she's going on. And you need to go on too."

My head slowly began to bop up and down in agreement as I reluctantly realised that Emma was right... I had to properly let Olivia go now. Especially considering the last remnants of us had faded. "I just... still miss her so much. And I don't know what to do about it," I croaked.

"It makes sense that you miss her. No one ever quite understood you like she did." Emma let go of my hand, arms wrapping around me as she pulled me into her chest just as the tears began to leak from my eyes again. "Crying about losing someone is a good thing though. It meant it was important and that they had an impact on you. But now it's time for you to think of all the other people you also have in your life who you could let in like you did with her. Because, from what you've told me, Erica and Jayce sound like amazing friends to you. And I highly doubt they would be out to betray you."

"I know," I whispered as I snaked my arms around her warm body. She wasn't her. But it was closure enough for now. "I'm just scared... They've both been in my life for so long... what if they hate the darker parts of me they've never known?"

"Erica literally watched you almost kill a human, covered it up, and tried to coddle you after so that you wouldn't do something you'd regret. My bet is she can withstand quite a lot. So I'd start with her first before Jayce. But you really don't need to fear that they will hate you, Lukas. It will be far from it."

We didn't say much more after that, though a few of Emma's words of wisdom did seep into me as I slowly did consider how I could even start by getting some of my truth out.

But eventually I stopped crying.

And eventually we pulled a few jokes and shared some light-hearted stories.

And finally I stopped being so selfish and asked her to share her tale of heartbreak... a much shorter one about a guy who simply could not commit when he realised the time to do so had arrived.

Though after our hearts felt lighter, we took separate showers and changed back into our clothes that certainly needed to be replaced at this point.

Tidying up the room slightly, we both walked down the hallway, took the elevator to the lobby, and checked out of the hotel.

Stepping out onto London's already dark streets, the streetlights glowed off the pavement after what seemed to be a fresh batch of rain.

Glancing over at Emma as we both stood there, not knowing what comes next, I took the step to close the distance first. Arms wrapping around her small frame, I pulled her close to me. "I know we said this was a one night thing," I mumbled into her hair, "But I also wouldn't mind seeing you again... even just as friends."

When I finally pulled back from her to gauge her response after endless moments of silence, her eyes twinkled with a knowingness as her lips tugged into a smile. "I suppose I also wouldn't mind that... But I don't know how to be friends with a vampire."

With a slight roll of my eyes, I dropped my hold on her and took another step back. "Sometimes I feel like I'm more witch than vampire."

"Oh yeah? That's interesting considering the story you just told me emphasised how much you hid from that reality." We had both started walking towards the tube at this point as we made our chit chat.

"I take a while to learn, okay?"

"Yeah, I know..."

"So... phone number?" I asked, already unlocking my phone to pass it to her.

She paused for a moment as she accepted my mobile, glancing at the screen as though she were reconsidering. But then her fingers began moving, her number punching into my contacts. "Don't drink alone in future, okay? Call me instead."

I gave her a curt nod before saying, "Noted."

"What are you doing tonight?" she asked as she handed back the phone.

"Oh, you know, thinking of going back to that bar and—"

"Lukas!" she already began to scold, but I couldn't keep up the act.

Chuckling, I said, "I'm kidding. Though... maybe not. I might end up back there, depending on how tonight goes... but I guess my first stop is seeing if Erica is free for a... long overdue talk."

"That sounds like a great plan," she said with a soft tone.

"Yeah... thanks again for being the first to listen."

She swatted her hand in the air as she bashfully looked to the ground. "I owed you one after you... ah... jumped into bed with me."

Smirk creeping onto my face, I leaned down to her ear as I whispered, "I believe I got my repayment in the bed for that one."

"Oh, shut it you!" This time she hit my arm instead of the air.

I snickered as I moved away from her second swat. "What are your plans tonight?"

A frown taking hold of her face, she started to say, "I've been putting off lesson planning for a while now. School doesn't go back until the new year of course, but—"

Though her words caught in her mouth as she came to a halt, while an eerie shriek sounded in the distance.

My feet also came to a stop as the screams pierced through me.

"Did you—" she started.

"I did," I said back, tilting my ears as I waited to see if they'd scream again... and where it was coming from.

Another blood-curdling cry for help echoed in the air—the humans passing by oblivious to the noises obvious to our listening ears—and at once, Emma and I took off in a run. We sprinted through the streets, weaving around the people despite their protests as we shoved them to the side, keeping at a human pace.

But we weren't moving fast enough.

The person continued to shout in agony in the distance, begging for the person to stop.

And memories of that night in the alley flashed in my mind.

At once, Emma's hand gripped my arm as she tugged me into a nearby backstreet, out of the sight of people.

"I'm going to shift and then you're going to run really fast with both of us, okay?" she said to me, already stepping back.

"Shift? With both of us? What do you—"

But before I could ask for clarification, two large purple wings unfurled from her body. And as my eyes grew wide while I glanced around to make sure no human could see, just as quickly, her body began to shrink before my eyes.

Emma continued to decrease in size until she was small enough to fit into my hand.

At once, she kicked off the ground, flying up to my face height. Then she came straight up to me, tucking herself into my jacket pocket.

"Go, Lukas, go!" her tiny voice squeaked.

And so I took off.

As fast as I could, I let my legs carry us through the streets, around the humans, without anyone noticing us passing them.

Winding past several blocks and stops, I followed the still-sounding pleas of the person as they neared closer and closer.

Then, one more turn, and suddenly we were there.

Emma leapt out of my pocket, regrowing in size as we both went still in shock.

The person in question had stopped screaming.

Their eyes had gone lifeless in the grip of the monster.

And as the body dropped to the ground, colourless and seemingly drained of blood, the creature's piercing red eyes snapped up to us, hungry for more.

"What the fuck is that," Emma whispered as she took in the same sight.

Eyes red from being bloodshot, what was once a human stood in front of us. But it's skin had turned icy white. Large purple veins coloured its body, protruding at all spots. And any resemblance of humanity was washed from it as two large fangs poked out of its mouth, drops of blood dripping down its cheeks.

"That," I said back to Emma once I finally found my voice, "Looks very much like a made-vampire."

"Well great... what the fuck is it doing here?" she muttered back as the creature took us in, shaking from the disease that ran through its blood.

"I imagine this was the emergency that my parents and Stephen had to attend to at the facility... that, or someone decided to let them go in the wake of their leader's death."

"Let's... figure out which it is when it's not looking like it wants to eat us."

"Do you think they're immune to your blood?"

Emma's eyes flickered my way, an almost proud challenging gleam glimmering in her gaze. "There's only one way to find out."

Next I knew, she fished a pocket knife from her bag, pierced the blade into her hand, and then ran at the creature.

End of Book Two

Thank you to all of you who managed to finish Book 2.

I apologise that this one is a retelling, but, as you could tell, there was so much more story from Lukas's side I wanted to get out before continuing onto Book 3... and the next book will capture both perspectives.

Nonetheless, I hope it was still enjoyable and new despite being mostly the same story (with new plot and twists revealed).

I will be releasing Book 3's Blurb shortly so that you can add it to your library to be notified of when I update.

In the meantime, if you re-read Book 1, let me know if I foreshadowed Book 2 enough... I really tried to keep Lukas's story in mind as I wrote it.